Educational needs of health professionals working in rheumatology in Europe

Yeliz Prior
2019
ABSTRACTObjective: To explore the availability of postgraduateeducation for health professionals (HPs) working inrheumatology in Europe, and their perceivededucational needs and barriers for participation incurrent educational offerings. Methods: Structured interviews were conducted withnational representatives of rheumatology HPs'organisations and an online survey among individualHPs was disseminated through existing EuropeanLeague Against Rheumatism (EULAR) networks (10languages including
more » ... ish). These comprisedquestions on: availability of postgraduate education,familiarity with EULAR and its educational offerings,unmet needs regarding the contents and mode ofdelivery and potential barriers to participate ineducation (0–10 scales). Results: According to 17 national representatives,postgraduate rheumatology education was mostcommon for nurses, physical and occupationaltherapists. There were 1041 individuals responding tothe survey, of whom 48% completed all questions.More than half (56%) were familiar with EULAR as anorganisation, whereas <25% had attended the EULARcongress or were familiar with EULAR online courses.Educational needs regarding contents were highest for'inflammatory arthritis' and 'connective tissue diseases'and regarding modes of delivery for 'courses organisedin own country' and 'online courses'. Important barriersto participation included lack of 'resources', 'time' and'English language skills'. Overall, there was considerablevariation in needs and barriers among countries. Conclusions: There is a lack of postgraduaterheumatology education for HPs in most countries. Thereare opportunities to raise awareness regarding EULAReducational offerings and to develop courses provided inHPs' own country, tailored to national needs and barriersand taking language barriers into consideration.
doi:10.17866/rd.salford.7637633 fatcat:3sfsw2b5urcwxgblzbapf7sx64